Ethereum Tokens Swiped, Returned After South Korean Tax Service Publishes Wallet Seed Phrases

Decrypt02-27 17:20

In brief The South Korean National Tax Service (NTS) shared seed phrases from seized crypto wallets in a press release. The contents of the wallets—valued around $4.8 million at face value—were then ...

Source Link

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

Comments

We need your insight to fill this gap

Leave a comment

{"i18n":{"language":"en_US"},"isChannel":false,"data":{"share":"https://ttm.financial/m/news/2614865038?lang=en_US&edition=fundamental","thumbnail":"https://img.decrypt.co/insecure/rs:fit:3840:0:0:0/plain/https://cdn.decrypt.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/crypto-crime-decrypt-style-02-gID_7.jpg@webp","is_english":true,"pubTime":"2026-02-27 17:20","share_image_url":"https://static.laohu8.com/e9f99090a1c2ed51c021029395664489","id":"2614865038","market":"nz","top_or_hot":-1,"title":"Ethereum Tokens Swiped, Returned After South Korean Tax Service Publishes Wallet Seed Phrases","media":"Decrypt","content":"<div>\n<p>In brief\nThe South Korean National Tax Service (NTS) shared seed phrases from seized crypto wallets in a press release.\nThe contents of the wallets—valued around $4.8 million at face value—were then ...</p>\n\n<a href=\"https://decrypt.co//359404/ethereum-tokens-swiped-returned-south-korean-tax-service\">Source Link</a>\n\n</div>\n","source":"decrypt_highlight","html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>Ethereum Tokens Swiped, Returned After South Korean Tax Service Publishes Wallet Seed Phrases</title>\n<style type=\"text/css\">\na,abbr,acronym,address,applet,article,aside,audio,b,big,blockquote,body,canvas,caption,center,cite,code,dd,del,details,dfn,div,dl,dt,\nem,embed,fieldset,figcaption,figure,footer,form,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,header,hgroup,html,i,iframe,img,ins,kbd,label,legend,li,mark,menu,nav,\nobject,ol,output,p,pre,q,ruby,s,samp,section,small,span,strike,strong,sub,summary,sup,table,tbody,td,tfoot,th,thead,time,tr,tt,u,ul,var,video{ font:inherit;margin:0;padding:0;vertical-align:baseline;border:0 }\nbody{ font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; color:#999; background:transparent; }\n.wrapper{ overflow:hidden;word-break:break-all;padding:10px; }\nh1,h2{ font-weight:normal; line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:.6em; }\nh3,h4,h5,h6{ line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:1em; }\nh1{ font-size:24px; }\nh2{ font-size:20px; }\nh3{ font-size:18px; }\nh4{ font-size:16px; }\nh5{ font-size:14px; }\nh6{ font-size:12px; }\np,ul,ol,blockquote,dl,table{ margin:1.2em 0; }\nul,ol{ margin-left:2em; }\nul{ list-style:disc; }\nol{ list-style:decimal; }\nli,li p{ margin:10px 0;}\nimg{ max-width:100%;display:block;margin:0 auto 1em; }\nblockquote{ color:#B5B2B1; border-left:3px solid #aaa; padding:1em; }\nstrong,b{font-weight:bold;}\nem,i{font-style:italic;}\ntable{ width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:1px;margin:1em 0;font-size:.9em; }\nth,td{ padding:5px;text-align:left;border:1px solid #aaa; }\nth{ font-weight:bold;background:#5d5d5d; }\n.symbol-link{font-weight:bold;}\n/* header{ border-bottom:1px solid #494756; } */\n.title{ margin:0 0 8px;line-height:1.3;color:#ddd; }\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nEthereum Tokens Swiped, Returned After South Korean Tax Service Publishes Wallet Seed Phrases\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2026-02-27 17:20 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://decrypt.co//359404/ethereum-tokens-swiped-returned-south-korean-tax-service><strong>Decrypt</strong></a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\n<p>In brief\nThe South Korean National Tax Service (NTS) shared seed phrases from seized crypto wallets in a press release.\nThe contents of the wallets—valued around $4.8 million at face value—were then ...</p>\n\n<a href=\"https://decrypt.co//359404/ethereum-tokens-swiped-returned-south-korean-tax-service\">Source Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","isBrief":false,"type":0,"news_type":1,"symbol":"ETH","symbol_name":"低成本以太坊ETF-Grayscale","start_time":0,"source_url":"https://decrypt.co//359404/ethereum-tokens-swiped-returned-south-korean-tax-service","article_id":"2614865038","we_media_id":null,"thumbnails":["https://img.decrypt.co/insecure/rs:fit:3840:0:0:0/plain/https://cdn.decrypt.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/crypto-crime-decrypt-style-02-gID_7.jpg@webp"],"rights":{"source":"decrypt_highlight","url":"https://decrypt.co//359404/ethereum-tokens-swiped-returned-south-korean-tax-service","rn_cache_url":null,"directOrigin":true},"url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=2614865038","pubTimestamp":1772184054,"columns":[],"sourceInfo":{"source_id":"decrypt_highlight","name":"Decrypt"},"weMediaInfo":null,"summary":"South Korea's tax service shared the seed phrases for seized wallets in a press release. The contents were then taken, but ultimately returned.","collect":0,"end_time":0,"defaultTopTitle":"decrypt.co","property":[],"viewcount":null,"language":"en","relate_stocks":{"ETH":"低成本以太坊ETF-Grayscale","BTF":"比特币&以太币期货ETF-CoinShares","ETHA":"以太坊ETF-iShares","ETHD":"ProShares UltraShort Ether ETF","ETQ":"T-Rex 2X Inverse Ether Daily Target ETF","FETH":"以太币ETF-Fidelity","SETH":"1倍做空以太币期货ETF-Proshares","ETHE":"最大以太坊ETF-Grayscale","EETH":"以太币期货ETF-ProShares","ETHI":"Defiance Leveraged Long Income Ethereum ETF","QETH":"以太坊ETF-Invesco Galaxy","ETHT":"ProShares Ultra Ether ETF","ETCO":"Grayscale Ethereum Covered Call ETF","ETU":"T-Rex 2X Long Ether Daily Target ETF","YETH":"Roundhill Ether Covered Call Strategy ETF","ETHU":"2倍以太币期货ETF-Volatility Shares","ETHV":"以太坊ETF-VanEck","EZET":"以太坊ETF-Franklin","ETHW":"以太坊ETF-Bitwise"},"translate_title":"韩国税务局发布钱包种子短语后，以太币代币被盗并被退回","themeId":null,"isJumpTheme":false,"ttsUrl":null,"symbols_score_info":{"ETCO":0.6,"BTF":0.6,"ETHT":0.6,"ETU":0.6,"ETHI":0.6,"ETQ":0.6,"ETHU":0.6,"ETHV":0.6,"EETH":0.6,"FETH":0.6,"SETH":0.6,"ETHA":0.6,"QETH":0.6,"ETHD":0.6,"EZET":0.6,"YETH":0.6,"ETHE":0.6,"ETHW":0.6,"ETH":0.6},"content_text":"In brief\nThe South Korean National Tax Service (NTS) shared seed phrases from seized crypto wallets in a press release.\nThe contents of the wallets—valued around $4.8 million at face value—were then swiped, but returned.\nThe token was highly illiquid, and the perpetrator would not have been able to get anywhere near the face value.\nThe first rule of self-custodying crypto is that you do not tell anyone your seed phrase—a set of 12 or 24 words that unlocks the private key to the wallet, therefore enabling control of the digital assets inside.South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) broke that rule in a very public fashion this week, publishing a photo of hand-written seed phrases in a press release and enabling an unidentified actor to make off with tokens valued at $4.8 million at face value, according to a local news report from Maeli Business Newspaper. But the highly illiquid tokens have since been returned.The incident occurred after the NTS completed a search and seizure of high-value tax delinquents and subsequently photographed some of its haul to share in a press release. In that release, one individual’s lot, labeled as “Case 3,” included multiple Ledger hardware devices and their respective seed phrases, according to the report. “This is like advertising to open your wallet and take your money,” Professor Cho Jae-woo of Hansung University told the publication.Upon publication of the release, an individual did just that, pulling contents from at least three wallets into an Ethereum address ending in “86c12” before transferring them again. On-chain data shows that three distinct addresses holding a total of 4 million Pre-Retogeum (PRTG)—valued at $4.8 million based on the token’s current price—were funded with a negligible amount of Ethereum to cover transaction fees before the user transferred their respective PRTG tokens to “86c12.”The three addresses, which have not made any transactions since January 2023, held 40% of the total supply of the PRTG token—a defunct Ethereum-based token that boasts only 1,500 holders and 1,600 transfers all-time. While initial reports noted the token’s $4.8 million face value, if the thief tried to sell these tokens, they would have not been able to recoup anywhere near that amount given very limited liquidity. The token lists no trading pairs on decentralized exchanges, and is only listed on one centralized exchange—MEXC—where it registered 24-hour volumes of only $332. According to CoinGecko, the exchange’s liquidity for the PRTG-USDT trading pair is so small that only $59 in volume would send the price down 2%. For comparison, to move Bitcoin down 2% down on MEXC, a trader would need to sell around $2.6 million worth of the top crypto coin.Perhaps that understanding is why on Friday morning, about 20 hours after initially moving the PRTG tokens, an address tied to the original “86c12” address transferred all the tokens back to their original wallets. The hiccup is just the latest in a string of apparent crypto blunders for officials in South Korea. Earlier this week, it was discovered that $1.4 million in BTC went missing four years ago thanks to police not adhering to proper crypto custody guidelines. Plus, South Korean regulators have come under fire after not finding an internal flaw in crypto exchange Bithumb’s system, which led to the firm erroneously distributing $43 billion worth of Bitcoin to users earlier this month rather than sending them small amounts of South Korean won.Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.Your EmailGet it!Get it!","kind":"highlight","is_publish_news":true,"is_publish_highlight":false,"is_publish_live":false,"is_publish_wemedia":null,"editions":null,"column":"","sentiment":"0","news_tag":"","news_rank":0,"symbols":[],"gpt_button":0,"need_auth":false,"code":"91000000","status":"200"},"commentList":[],"isCommentEnd":true,"newsSizeData":{"likeSize":0,"commentSize":0,"repostSize":0,"favoriteSize":0,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false},"APP":{"userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)","isDev":false,"isTTM":true,"tenantId":"TBGLOBAL","deviceId":"web-server-community-laohu8-v3","version":"4.36.2","shortVersion":"4.36.2","platform":"web","vendor":"web","appName":"ttm","isIOS":false,"isAndroid":false,"isTiger":false,"isTHS":false,"isWeiXin":false,"isWeiXinMini":false,"isWeiBo":false,"isQQ":false,"isBaiduSwan":false,"isBaiduBox":false,"isDingTalk":false,"isToutiao":false,"isOnePlus":false,"isHuaWei":false,"isXiaomi":false,"isXiaomiWebView":false,"isOppo":false,"isVivo":false,"isSamsung":false,"isMobile":false},"href":"/m/news/2614865038","isCrawlerRequest":true}